John Fitzgerald in his essay "The Invention of the Modern Chinese Self" considers ways in which the Chinese developed the concept of self, an idea that was first developed in Europe in modern times. The view taken currently differs from that of the earlier Republican era in Chinese history:
In the ethics of late-twentieth century China the naked, new-born self is born a citizen, a little helper and a pillar of society. . . The roles of citizen, little helper and pillar of society into which the child is welcomed today were not known to the child's forebears earlier this century when the identity of the self was up for negotiation along with the rest of the empire (Fitzgerald 25).
Issues of identity and the relationship of the self to the state served as background and subject for art works early in this century, as can be seen in the works of artists such as Xu Beihong and Lin Fengmian.
The shift in thinking about the self was part of the process of modernization in China and has also been related to a philosophical change in Chinese thought. China made an intellectual journey from Confucianism to Communism in the century between the middle of the nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century. In the Taiping era, Confucianism prevailed, while by the middle of the next century Confucianism was rejected in favor of a new and foreign (though modified to the Chinese situation) Marxist ideology. Confucianism was long the primary influence in Chinese thought, challenged by different strains of religious and philosophical thought at different times, but hardy enough to persist. It would be a major target for the Communist regime after 1949, being seen then as an unnecessary remnant from the past and as an ideology that conflicted with the Communist thought promoted by Mao and his followers.
Confucius introduced a strong and lasting philosophical system, one that would have importance not only in China but in Jap...